BIR Oct collections up 6.5% but off target

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) missed its tax collections target for October, and despite the 6.5-percent increase from a year earlier, the pace of growth reflects a slowdown from the 22.9 percent recorded in September.

Data released by the BIR on Monday showed the agency collected P101.8 billion in tax revenues in October, up P6.2 billion from the year-earlier level.

However, the bureau missed its P114.14-billion collection goal for the month, falling short by P12.34 billion or 10.81 percent.

The BIR did not give a direct explanation for the slowdown in tax collections in October, but the figures suggest that the gains made by the BIR regular tax operations and regional offices were in effect reduced by the slack in non-BIR operations and Large Taxpayers Service.

A breakdown of the total tax collection for October shows that the regular tax revenues for the month reached P99.64 billion, up 6.88 percent or P6.42 billion from the amount collected in October 2013.

Collections through non-BIR operations such as taxes imposed on government securities sold by the Bureau of Treasury stood at P2.16 billion, down by 8.6 percent or P204 million from the comparative year-earlier period.

Collections by the BIR’s regional offices rose 21.08 percent to P39.61 billion, or P6.89 billion more than the collections made in the same month a year earlier.

The Large Taxpayers Service collected P60.03 billion, lower by P476.61 million or 0.79 percent less than the collections made a year earlier.

Cumulative BIR collections from January to October 2014 reached P1.098 trillion, below the year-to-date target of about P1.190 trillion.

For full-year 2014, the bureau is aiming to collect P1.456 trillion, raising the target amount from the 2013 target of P1.253 trillion by 16.2 percent or P203 billion.